NPAA Scholarship Exhibition Puts Best of Erie on Display

Wednesday, July 26

Part art gallery, part awards ceremony and all gala, the Fran Schanz 18th Annual NPAA Scholarship Exhibition combines the very best that the Erie area's artistic community has to offer.

This event is put on by the Northwestern Pennsylvania Artists Association (NPAA), an organization that has protected, promoted and advocated for the rights and integrity of artists in the Erie region for 43 years. President Kris Risto is busy with the NPAA's many activities throughout the year, but the Scholarship Exhibition is clearly an important and anticipated night for all involved. "Each ticket holder gets dinner for two, a stunning glass-blown flower by the artist Barbara Yerace and a chance to win the art lottery," he said.

Tickets can be purchased in pairs for only $110, either online or at the Artlore Gallery, Glass Growers Gallery, or PACA. The lottery Risto mentioned is an incredible opportunity for one out of every 10 lucky guests to win the chance to choose one of the 85 art pieces on display for their own personal gallery at home. Music will also be a well-represented art form, with the hot, jazzy sounds of the Stephen Trohoske Trio and the incomparable Mackenzie Sprague (a.k.a. Optimistic Apocalypse) on hand.

Risto stressed the importance of the organization's mission for the last four decades, and particularly its work in promoting the artists of the future through its scholarship recipients, while also remarking on the specialness of this year's event: "[It's] the first time we are having the event at the Bayfront Convention Center." With stellar views of the lake and accompanying sunset, the 2017 NPAA Scholarship Exhibition will be as colorful and as memorable as any artistic masterpiece. — Cara Suppa

6 p.m. to 10 p.m. // 1 Sassafrass Pier // $110 for two tickets // facebook.com/NPAAonline